Aristotle Capital Management, LLC, an investment management company, released its “Core Equity Fund” first-quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. During the first quarter, the U.S. equity market declined, with the S&P 500 Index falling by 4.33%. The fixed-income sector also saw a downturn; the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index fell by 0.05%. In the quarter, the Fund (Class I-2) posted a total return of -4.45%, compared to the S&P 500 Index’s -4.33% return. The Fund’s underperformance in the quarter was driven by the allocation effect, while security selection contributed positively. In this environment, the Fund continues to focus on companies experiencing secular tailwinds or robust product-driven cycles. In addition, please check the Fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Aristotle Core Equity Fund highlighted Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR) as a leaning performance contributor. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR) is an oil and natural gas development and exploration company. On May 13, 2026, Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR) closed at $36.74 per share. One-month return of Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR) was -1.64%, and its shares lost 8.34% over the past 52 weeks. Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR) has a market capitalization of $11.38 billion.
Aristotle Core Equity Fund stated the following regarding Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR) contributed to performance in the first quarter due to higher price levels for U.S. natural gas caused by cold winter weather temperatures, as well as increasing demand from AI data center power needs. Late in the quarter, Antero also benefited from a geopolitically driven natural gas price spike as Middle East supply disruptions pushed global liquified natural gas (LNG) buyers toward U.S. LNG cargoes. The company continues to demonstrate strong fundamentals, with strong free cash flow generation and a de-levered balance sheet.”
Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 73 hedge fund portfolios held Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR) at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 70 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR) and shared the list of under-the-radar picks from David Einhorn that are quietly dominating 2026. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2026 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
